UNION membership in the United States has fallen to an all time low, according to new government data released on Tuesday, but a leading trade union has resolved to organise a general strike in 2028.
The US Bureau of Labour Statistics said 10 per cent of hourly and salaried workers were members of unions in 2023, around 14.4 million people.
That is down from 10.1 per cent in 2022 and represents an all time low.
The number of unionised workers in the private sector increased by 191,000 to 7.4 million last year.
But 6 per cent unionisation in the private sector remained unchanged from the previous year.
The unionisation rate for public-sector employees, including government workers, teachers and police, was far higher, at 32.5 per cent. About 7 million public-sector workers were union members in 2023, which was unchanged from the year before.
Kate Bronfenbrenner, a senior lecturer and director of labour education research at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labour Relations, said: “Union organising gains continue to be offset by job growth in non-union jobs and job loss in heavily unionised sectors.”
She said the data failed to take account of the surge in union membership at companies like Trader Joe’s and Starbucks.
Black workers joined unions in greater numbers than white workers last year. Some 11.8 per cent of black workers are unionised compared to 9.8 per cent of white workers.
Men had a higher union membership rate last year, at 10.5 per cent. The rate for women was 9.5 per cent.
In August, a Gallup poll said 67 per cent of US citizens approved of unions, a steady rise from 2009, when just 48 per cent did so, Gallup said.
The disappointing new membership data has failed to dim the militancy of US unions.
Earlier this week, United Auto Workers union President Shawn Fain told delegates to his union’s national political conference in Washington DC that he plans to lead a general strike in the US on May 1 2028, saying it was “time for union members to come together.”
Mr Fain said: “We have to pay for our sins of the past. Back in 1980 when Ronald Reagan fired [unionised air traffic controllers], everybody in this country should have stood up and walked the hell out.
“We missed the opportunity then, but we’re not going to miss it in 2028. That’s the plan. We want a general strike. We want everybody walking out just like they do in other countries.”
